My partner and I are looking to purchase a house in Chelsfield and are in fact using a Chelsfield conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Mortgage Works have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Chelsfield solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Chelsfield solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I just bought a flat at auction in Chelsfield. Conveyancing is necessary. What happens now?
Having exchanged you should retain a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you will have a tight a fixed date to complete the deal. All auction property will have a bespoke auction pack. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the auction pack should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork relating to leasehold premises. You need to hand this to the conveyancer working for you as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Chelsfield on 5/1/2026, valuation was booked five days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Santander and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Santander conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Santander to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Santander conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment in Chelsfield agreed to, the owners do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The sellers have offered on a flat, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Chelsfield. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Coventry BS?
It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Chelsfield conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your property lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Concerning the next steps this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market the majority of buyers would apply for a home loan with Coventry BS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancing practitioner to press on with searches.
It has been 4 months following my purchase conveyancing in Chelsfield took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am buying a new build apartment in Chelsfield. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Chelsfield
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Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.
In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my commercial property in Chelsfield and how can you help?
The particular law that you refer to gives security of tenure to business leaseholders, giving them the right to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy at the end of an expired lease. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Chelsfield is one of our numerous locations in which our lawyers are located
If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £325,000 apartment in Chelsfield in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Chelsfield?
Chelsfield conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.
My wife and I have hit a brick wall in seeking a lease extension in Chelsfield. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the price.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chelsfield premises is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 50.57 years.